Page 17 of Hearing Little Hadley

“What did you think of it?”

Hadley flipped through her cards.

Wet.

Nanny J chuckled.

“It is wet. It’s not my favorite thing about Montana.”

“What else do we see, Nate?”

“Santa!”

“Oh, that’s a good answer. Santa does come in December.”

“Mindy, can you tell me who helps Santa make all the toys for the good boys and girls?”

“The elves at the North Pole!”

“Oh my goodness, you guys are so smart! Yes, the elves do! And we have a very special elf that came all the way from the North Pole to read a book to you!”

Cheers erupted and Hadley jumped.

“Hey, hey, let’s use our soft voices, okay?” Nanny J redirected.

The class immediately quieted, but Hadley felt a bit off. She flapped her arms before realizing how silly she looked. She sat on her hands so she wouldn’t do it again.

“Hadley, sweet girl,” Miss Phoebe called from the sink area. “Can you come here, honey?”

Hadley stood obediently and walked over to the waiting teacher. She hoped she wasn’t in trouble.

“Did you get a little overwhelmed with the excitement?”

Hadley’s face flushed and her vision blurred from the instant tears. She was never going to get it right. Flipping through her cards, she tappedSorry.

“Oh, honey, don’t cry. It’s okay. You don’t ever have to be sorry for flapping your arms. That’s totally an okay thing to do. As long as the things you do to help yourself feel better, don’t hurt you or anyone else, they’re perfectly fine. There was a lot of noise suddenly and I’m sure it was overwhelming. I just wanted to give you a chance to recover. Sometimes when I get nervous, I run my hands under cold water. Do you want to try?”

Hadley nodded and Miss Phoebe helped her climb the stool to the sink. She turned on the tap and Hadley let the cool water run over her skin.

“Is it making the creepy-crawlies in your brain go away?”

Hadley nodded again, smiling.

Miss Phoebe helped her dry her hands and then sent her back to the carpet with a soft pat on her diaper.

When Hadley sat back on the carpet, Nanny J sent her a soft smile. “Are you doing okay, Hadley?”

Hadley nodded. She was embarrassed she’d gotten overwhelmed, but at least everyone had been nice about it.

“Alright, boys and girls, this is a super special visitor, all the way from the North Pole. Can we snap our fingers to welcome, Shane the Elf?”

Hadley was so thankful that Nanny J didn’t ask them to clap. Snapping was much softer on her ears.

A very tall elf walked into the classroom and waved at everyone. It was so silly because he was way too big to be an elf. Hadley was pretty sure elves were supposed to be tiny. Shane the Elf also wore candy-corn socks. Wasn’t that a Halloween thing? Hadley wanted to see his elf credentials.

He came and sat on a stool beside Nanny J.

“Hello, boys and girls,” he said, waving.

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